The Midshipwoman
by Wing Pikepaw
Summary: Wow, odd title. Anyhow, a rather modern Miss Emma Doyle (Less of the miss, dude) is whisked back in time to Master and Commander, one of her favorite movies. Is she dreaming, hallucinating, etc? Or is she really there-and rockin' the Surprise's world?
1. An Odd Finding

_Disclaimer-I don't own any of the Surprise characters, they're copyright of Patrick O'Brian, but I do own the odd and crazy (well, actually, pretty much normal) Emma Doyle, my wonderful heroine who is going to rock the nautical world...._

_Note-Oh goody, time for my ramble. Okay, I found this in the depths of my hard drive last night, and I wrote it like a year ago (just the first chapter, mind) so I'll be writing new ones, but the idea is ancient, so it'll be kind of odd! As for my heroine....I needed a change, and I got one. Well, enjoy anyhow._

William Blakeney sighed happily and stepped onto the beach of the unnamed tropical island. Stephen was running out ahead of him, multiple collecting cages bouncing around on his back. Suddenly, he skidded to a stop and threw himself to the ground, studying a tiny fragment of lichen.

Blakeney turned when he heard a snort behind him. The captain was standing there, watching Stephen with a look of amusement. "How he does that, I'll never know," Jack said. "Run along, young Blakeney, take a walk, enjoy yourself."

"Yessir," Blakeney said automatically. He strode off down the beach, taking in the beautiful scenery. A few minutes down the beach, he made out a figure sitting on the sand and drinking something. Curious but wary, he moved closer-and gasped.

It was a girl about his age. She was dressed in odd trousers and a short sleeved shirt, and was drinking water out of a canteen. A thick silver wire ran over the top of her head and covered both ears, and seemed to be emitting some sort of rhythmic noise.

"Er....hello?" Blakeney said tentatively. She glanced up at him, looking surprised, and set down the wire. "Hi there," she offered. "S'up?"

_What is she talking about?_ Blakeney wondered. "I'm William Blakeney, miss. Who are you?" he asked politely.

She stared at him, mouth slightly open. "W-William _Blakeney?_" she stammered. "That's not possible....."

Blakeney was taken aback. Not only did she dress and behave strangely, she also seemed to know him. "Have we met?" he asked uncertainly.

The girl shook her head as if to clear it, stared at him again, and seemed to snap back to normal. "Oh, no, of course not. I'm Emma Doyle, by the way." She sprang upright and looked around. "How did you get here? Your ship?"

"Yes, miss, the H.M.S. _Surprise_. It's captained by....." he trailed off because she didn't appear to be listening to him. In fact, she seemed almost bored by the information, as if she already knew it.

"I was shipwrecked here," she remarked as she picked up the shiny silver disk the thick wire was attached to. "Been here for, like, a month."

"Are you American, then?" Blakeney said, having finally deciphered her accent. She looked up at him sharply, then relaxed. "Yes, yes I am," she replied softly.

Remembering his manners, Blakeney asked, "Would you be so kind as to accompany me to the ship, miss?" He held out his arm.

She waved it off. "Less of the miss, dude. I can walk by myself. C'mon, let's move it or lose it, man."

They hurried off towards the _Surprise_, Blakeney feeling more confused than ever.


	2. Lies

Jack looked up from his pile of charts when he heard the sound of Emma and Blakeney's footsteps on the deck. His eyes widened with surprise when he saw Emma, but he made no comment as Blakeney saluted and said, "Sir, I found her sitting on the dunes. She says she was shipwrecked here a month ago."

Emma narrowed her eyes at Blakeney, annoyed that he had announced her himself, but kept quiet except to say, "My name's Emma Doyle, sir."

Jack nodded and bowed. "I'm Captain Aubrey. Welcome aboard the H.M.S. _Surprise_, miss."

She glared at him. "Please don't call me miss-sir. I prefer Emma."

"Very well," Jack said. "So, you were shipwrecked? What was the name of your vessel?"

"Uh....." Emma thought hard and fast, yelling at herself mentally, _Come on, idiot, your dad's a history teacher, how dumb can you get? _She couldn't think of any off the top of her head, so she made one up. "The, um, the _Lionclaw_."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard of it."

"It was my father's ship. He built it, sir," she lied. "It broke up on the....reefs over there."

Jack spun around, gazing over the ocean. "Reefs? Where? I see no reefs."

"Er....." Emma was beginning to sweat. "Maybe it was a rock. I don't know. We were in a big storm at the time. I swam ashore, but everyone else drowned."

"You can swim?" Jack eyed her skeptically. "I don't know any ladies who can swim. And why are you wearing those odd clothes?" He peered at the design on her sweatshirt.

_Duh, I can swim!_ Emma thought. _That's why my shirt says Avon Swim Team, idiot! _"Yes, I can swim. My, uh, father taught me how when my mother died of drowning."

For the first time, Jack looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry to hear that. You may spend the night here, and we'll decide what to do with you in the morning. Mr. Blakeney, escort Miss Doyle to her cabin."

Emma thanked him grudingly and followed Blakeney below.


	3. Proving Worth

_Before I write, know that this chapter involves a cricket game. I don't know anything about cricket (well, not so much) so if I get something wrong, now you know. I play baseball myself, so it may sound like baseball, sort of. I actually put in the game because the crew played it on the Galapagos Islands and I needed something for my heroine to do. _

_I play baseball, yes, that's why I know all the terms. Currently, it being winter, I'm stuck inside (well, I dogsled, but that's not baseball. Far from it, though it's lots of fun) until the snow melts. By the way, Josh Gowdy is an actual person from my team last year. He was the best pitcher in the league, with a timed fastball of 74 MPH. Not bad, eh?_

_For all you people who can't tell, Emma is from the future and plays baseball. (Duh!)_

_Happy Christmahanukwanzakah to you all! evil grin I _love_ that word!_

Emma sat down on a small cot in the middle of the room and surveyed her surroundings with unhappiness. The walls were whitewashed and bare, and the only piece of furniture in the room was the cot.

"Er...do you like it, miss-I mean, Emma?" Blakeney asked awkwardly.

"Uh, it's fine, sure. Can we go outside now?" Emma asked hopefully, staring out the porthole at the crew, who were playing cricket on the shore. It looked an awful lot like baseball to her.

Blakeney raised his eyebrows. Was she serious? Seeing the look of rapt attention on her face, he shrugged and said, "Of course. Follow me." He offered her his arm, which she politely waved away, and followed her as she trotted on deck.

Emma approached Mowett, who was refereeing. "Can I play?" she asked.

Mowett had already seen her come aboard, so he wasn't surprised to see her, but he was surprised that she had asked to play. "Um...." he stammered, frantically looking around for someone to discourage her.

"I can play, you know," Emma said. She could tell by his hesitation that he didn't want a _girl_ to play. Emma sighed. She _hated_ that kind of prejudice. There was only one thing to do-prove her worth to them.

Emma picked up a spare bat lying on the ground. Blakeney and Mowett exchanged resigned glances and stood back.

Emma noticed how fast the pitcher was throwing. Since it was a different style than baseball, it was harder to time mentally, but when she got the rhythm figured out, it was easier. The pitcher (Bonden) was only throwing about as fast as the ace pitcher in her league back home, Josh Gowdy.

With a last warm-up swing, Emma stepped up to bat. "Hang on," she muttered as she kicked a hole in the dirt to get a good grip. She stood, balanced on the balls of her feet, eyes narrowed with concentration. In her mind, she was back at Memorial Field at a team practice. Josh was on the mound, coming into his wind-up, bringing his foot up off the ground and slamming it down as his arm reared back and fired the ball. It sped closer-a fastball. Right down the middle. Nice and easy.

Emma took her step forward with her left foot, building momentum for the swing. She twisted on the toes of her right feet, bringing her body around. Her hands were level with her hips. Dimly, she imagined the compliments she would have gotten at practice. Then, she was snapped back to the present, and she was making contact with the ball.

_Crack! _The bat made solid contact with the ball, which sped down the middle of the field. _Line drive,_ Emma thought as she followed through with her swing. _Not bad either. Single at least, I'd say. Cool._

"Run! Run!" yelled the men on the sidelines who were watching. _Oh, duh!_ Emma thought with annoyance at herself. She sprinted for what appeared to be first base, lengthening her stride and diving for the base. Mowett ran up behind her, watching as her fingers made contact-and the ball landed in Naygle's hands a second later.

He pronounced her safe at once. Cheers rang out from the sidelines, and Emma got up with a grin. Naygle turned to her, mouth open.

"Where did'ya learn that? How to play like that?" he sputtered.

Emma's smile faded. "A long way from here," she muttered, and changed the subject.

She played cricket for the rest of the day until Jack got tired of the constant noise on the shore and had Mowett tell everyone off. Reluctantly, everyone packed up the gear and went back to the _Surprise_. Emma was already making plans for tomorrow.


	4. An Attack and a Rebellion

_Disclaimer-_ _In this chapter, I briefly have Emma listening to music. I assure you, this is an actual song. It's a cool song too. But unfortunately, it's ©2004 to U2, and so is the song name, Vertigo. You know, that iPod commercial. _

Emma was listening to her Walkman again, a sure sign of boredom. She sat against the railing on the quarterdeck, eyes distant and glazed.

Jack shot her another irritated look. It was in his nature to lift up midshipman from the deck when they were sitting and give them the old run-by; "We stand tall on the quarterdeck, son, all of us," but Emma was a girl, and it was totally against etiquette. Oh well.

Suddenly, Emma mumbled loudly along with the song, "_Hello hello/Hola! /I'm at a place called Vertigo! /Como estas! /It's everything I wish I didn't know, except you, give me something, I can feel! Feel!"_

"What?" Jack asked, fearful for her sanity. He still didn't understand the concept of listening to music through wires and shiny silver discs.

She glanced up as if just seeing him. Her eyes widened suddenly, and she yelled, "Duck! I mean, get down!"

Jack did so without question, and was very glad he did. A cannonball ripped through the mizzen like a knife through butter, toppling it. Splinters, dust, and sails rained down on the deck.

Emma and Jack got up immediately. Jack was yelling orders instantly for the guns to be run out and for someone to bring him a glass. Suddenly, he felt a tug on his sleeve and turned.

"What can I do?" Emma asked. Her Walkman lay forgotten on the corner of the deck. But Jack had no time now. All manner and etiquette forgotten, every inch the naval officer, he snarled, "Get to your cabin and stay there."

"But I want to fight!" she protested. "I can help!"

Jack whirled on her. "This is no place for a young girl! Go to your cabin, Miss Doyle!" he roared.

Emma backed away from him, eyes wide. "Okay, okay, I'll take the hint," she mumbled. Scooping up her Walkman, she trotted down the steps and bolted below. But she did not go to her cabin.

She walked quietly down to where she knew the weapons were kept, in the gunroom. No one was in there, so Emma pushed the door open and stepped in. Carefully, she picked up a pair of loaded pistols and belted them on, then picked up a long saber with a grin.

It was a nice blade, well made and just Emma's size. It had been her specialty in fencing, which Emma took in the winter when baseball was over. She thrust it resolutely through her belt and dashed back on deck, where all hell was breaking loose.

_So, now you know Emma is a complete tomboy, a reckless rule breaker, and a violent little child. Haha! Stayed tuned..._


End file.
